


A Manual for the Proper Care and Feeding of Darcy Lewis

by emma98



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy is sad and Steve is the only one around to help her, F/M, Natasha has a very specific set of instructions on how to take care of a sad Darcy, darcy is a blanket burrito of sadness, one shot for now, pre-relationship stuff, steve rogers...nurturing caretaker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 22:13:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7192919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emma98/pseuds/emma98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are times when even the most well put together, happy people get a little sad.  Natasha had advised Steve that Darcy is about to go through the perfect storm of moroseness.  Unfortunately, Steve is the only one available to try and help.  </p>
<p>It's a good thing Natasha has a list of instructions for this sort of thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Manual for the Proper Care and Feeding of Darcy Lewis

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little one shot. Someone asked to be wrapped up in a burrito of sadness this morning during my vacation, and it gave me this little plot bunny. I hope that you enjoy it!

**A Manual for the Proper Care and Feeding of Darcy Lewis**

  
  


* * *

 

“I need your help.”

 

Steve furrowed his brow as Natasha stood outside of his office at the upstate Avenger’s Facility.  This was a first.  Natasha never asked him for help in the five years he had known her.  She was standing at his door in her kevlar catsuit, looking ready for battle.  He nodded without a second thought and stood, looking ready to join whatever fight she had.

 

“Calm down, boy,” Natasha shook her head in amusement.  “I need you to take care of something for me while I’m out on the Madrid mission with Clint and Sam.  Tony is in Malibu.  Thor took Jane offworld for some fertility festival.  Wanda is at the farm with Laura on some downtime and Vision isn’t exactly equipped.”

 

“Sure...what do you need?” Steve questioned.  He had no idea what she was going to ask of him, but he was willing to say yes.  It was Natasha.  To borrow a phrase from Clint and Darcy, Natasha was his bro.  He was surprised that she hadn’t come to him first for whatever she needed.  She’d already exhausted everyone else in the facility.  “Do you need me to take care of the secret cat you have in your quarters that you don’t want Tony to find out about?”

 

Natasha gave him an impressed look.  Clearly his spy skills had improved dramatically since the fall of SHIELD.  She handed him a well worn piece of paper, dog-eared and stained.

 

“I need you to take care of Darcy Lewis while I’m gone.”

 

Steve’s eyes widened.  He understood now why Natasha had tried to go through all the other Avengers and associates.  Because she  _ knew _ how he felt about Darcy.

 

“What’s the matter with her?” he furrowed his brow in definite concern.  “She sick?”

 

“She’s sad,” Natasha barely explained.

 

“What happened?” Steve asked, a little more desperate this time.  “Who made her sad?”

 

“No one made her sad,” Natasha assured him, hiding the little, pleased smirk that had bloomed on her face as slow as she pleased.  “There are times when she gets sad.  But the next few days there is a perfect storm of sad coming her way.”

 

“Did she say that?” Steve wondered.

 

“I just know,” Natasha shrugged.  “Jane has been gone for three weeks now.  Helen has been in South Korea for two weeks and Pepper hasn’t been to visit in a month.  This is the fourteenth anniversary of her grandmother’s death, who was her primary caretaker since she was an infant.  Also?”

  
Natasha paused and Steve hung on her every word, ignoring her little pleased smirk.  

 

“She’s in that phase of her menstrual cycle where she gets very sad.”

 

“PMS, dude!” Clint called out helpfully as he approached Steve’s office.  “My bird brother from another mother slash your bed buddy is ready to go.”

 

“Just follow the instructions, please?” Natasha gave him an encouraging smile before walking away.

 

Steve read the step by step instructions and little tips and tricks on the piece of paper and shook his head in disbelief.  This had to be a joke, somehow.  Darcy was an odd little duck, but surely there were other ways to deal with sadness.

 

* * *

 

“Captain Rogers.”

 

Vision burst through the wall to the locker room where Steve was getting dressed after his morning workout.  He had spent the entirety of the previous night watching Darcy like a hawk in the common room.  She had been subdued, and certainly not her usual joyful and exuberant self.  But she hadn’t seemed to be desperately sad.  Certainly not sad enough to invoke the protocol that Natasha had provided.

 

“Vision, we talked about this.  You can’t keep walking into private spaces,” Steve gestured to the locker room.  “No busting through walls where people are potentially naked, remember?”

 

“My apologies, but this is incredibly urgent,” Vision said with his normal gravitas.  “Miss Lewis is in some sort of distress in the common area.”

 

Steve nodded dumbly before throwing on the skin tight sleeveless undershirt and running barefoot from the locker room to the common room three flights up on the other side of the main building.  He hesitated at the door, wondering what on Earth he was doing.  He could feel the instruction manual burning a hole in his back pocket, but he still couldn’t actually imagine doing what Natasha had told him to do.  Besides, she probably just wanted to be sad alone.  He couldn’t possibly do anything to help her---

 

He heard a little pathetic sniffle and he nearly broke the door off of its hinges and he stumbled into the room, going straight to the little kitchen area where Darcy was.  She stood at the counter, her hands covered in flour as she looked down at whatever she had been attempted to bake, her eyes spilling tears down her cheeks.

 

“Miss Lewis?” Steve said softly, stepping towards her like she was a scared little animal.  “Are you alright?”

 

“I messed up the cookies,” she whispered, looking down at the little cut out shapes she had been making out of dough.  They looked perfect.  "And I told you to call me Darcy."

 

“They look pretty good to me,” Steve assured her.  He gave her a reassuring smile and added in a soft tone, "Darcy."

 

“No.  I can tell,” Darcy shook her head.  She clapped her hands together before moving to the sink and washing the flour off of her hands vigorously.  She sniffled again and looked up at him with big, watery eyes.   “I only made them today because I wanted to remember Nana but---but…”

 

Steve’s eyes widened as she broke down completely.  He’d never actually had to deal with crying girls.  His mother had never broken down in front of him, Mrs. Barnes had been tough as steel, and any time one of Bucky’s sisters would cry they would run to their room.  Peggy certainly never broke down in front of him, and since waking up in the twenty-first century, his closest female friend had been Natasha.  Even Wanda managed to hide her grief from him, sharing it only with Clint.

 

Darcy let out one heart wrenching little sobbing sound and blubbered, 

 

“I’m---sorr---sorry, Steve...I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

 

“Don’t apologize, it’s alright, Darcy,” Steve promised, his panic being replaced with purpose suddenly as he pulled out the sheet of instructions, more than willing to follow them if it meant providing the sad woman in front of him with some kind of comfort.  “I’ll be right back.”

 

Darcy nodded as she made big, hiccuping sobs, finishing the washing of her hands before looking back at the so-called ruined cookies and finding that her tears came anew.  Steve rushed back into the room thirty seconds later, his hands full of a soft, red blanket.

 

“You probably think I’m a big mess,” Darcy made a stuttered gasp for air.  “I’m not normally like this.”

 

“I know that, Darcy.  I know,” Steve nodded.  And he did know.  She had been at the facility since they had opened the doors, handling everything relating to the many scientists that lived and worked there.  Acquiring proper living quarters and food went hand in hand with ordering supplies and applying for grants.  Darcy did everything for her ever expanding brood of geniuses and quite a few super heroes as well.  Steve had partaken in many a night of comfort food provided by her for the team after a bad mission.  

 

She looked down at his hands and her eyebrows went up in surprise.

 

“Is that the blanket Thor brought me back from Asgard?” she sniffled.

 

“Yeah,” Steve nodded.  He walked towards her, shaking the luxurious material out.  Without any further hesitation he began wrapping it around her whole body, practically swaddling her tightly in the material in a way that only her head was poking out.

 

“Did Natasha tell you about Darcy Burrito?” she whispered.

 

“Yeah, she told me,” Steve nodded, tucking the end of the blanket in at her shoulder.  He couldn’t help but smile down at her.  Her sniffling had immediately stopped and she huffed out a small sigh.  

 

“I’m a weirdo,” Darcy’s bottom lip trembled after a few moments of Steve just staring down at her. 

 

“No, you’re not,” Steve shook his head.  “We all have our comfort, Darcy.”

 

“I’ll be alright, you can go back to work,” Darcy squirmed beneath her blanket cocoon slightly.  “You have more important things to deal with than a strange girl with the weepies, that you don’t even like very much.”

 

“No,” Steve said simply.  He bent over very suddenly and hauled the burrito shaped Darcy over his shoulder, walking towards the comfiest couch by the television.  He placed her down on it, before going and getting all of the most comfortable pillows from the other couches and building walls around her with them.  He looked up to the ceiling and asked, “Friday?  Can you please put on  _ Singin’ In the Rain _ ?”

 

He looked down at her as she watched the movie that was number one on the list of movies that the instructions had provided.  She looked distracted and had at least stopped crying for the moment.  And had stopped talking.  Stopped talking about how he didn’t like her very much.  He didn’t like hearing her say that.

 

He stood behind the couch as she watched the movie with only small little sniffles coming out of the nest of pillows.  He consulted the instructions and nodded, going back to the kitchen area and grabbing a large cup from the top cabinets.  It was a very long bright pink vessel, and had the words  _ Vegas Science-a-thon 2015 _ .  He remembered at New Year’s, all of the science people at the facility had busted their own special cups out and filled it with Stark’s expensive booze before guzzling it down all night.  

 

He filled it with a few ice cubes and filtered water, before bringing it back to Darcy and placing it carefully between her hip and the pillows.  He brought the straw to her mouth and smirked when she barely looked away from the movie to take the straw and sip at the water.  

 

He focused on her for the next twenty minutes, worrying over the fact that she thought he didn’t like her very much.  She had every reason to belief that, really.  He had distanced himself from her since she had moved into the facility along with Jane.  But it wasn’t out of dislike.

 

Quite the opposite really.  

 

He liked her, more than he should.  

 

He heard her sniffle again and he consulted his list, nodding before heading back to the kitchen.  He was about to go for the fridge when he saw Vision patiently walking through the door instead of the wall, his hands full of bags from the store in town.  

 

“Captain Rogers, I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of obtaining sustenance for Miss Lewis,” he looked to the couch and nodded in approval.  “JARVIS spent three of Miss Lewis’ blue periods in the tower with her, and was actually responsible for helping Natasha to compile the manual.”

 

“I see, great,” Steve nodded, taking the bags and unpacking them.  Pringles.  Cheese Curds.  Corn dogs.  Blueberry yogurt.  And at least one of every kind of chocolate that the store must have sold.   He looked back up at a clearly worried Vision and asked, “Would you like to take something to her?”

 

“I’m afraid that I ‘ _ set her off _ ’ earlier,” Vision shook his head sadly.  “I sound too much like JARVIS, clearly it makes her very sad, and that is unacceptable to me.”

 

“Alright,” Steve gave Vision a small smile.

 

“Please be as kind as you can, Captain Rogers,” Vision advised.  “Now is not the time for aloofness.”

 

“I’ll do my best,” Steve promised him before Vision quietly walked away.  Steve pushed all the snacks back into the bag before walking towards Darcy and sitting down gingerly next to her.  He gave her an earnest smile before opening the bag for her perusal.  “Hungry?”

 

“A little,” she admitted with a small smile.  

 

He pulled at the blanket at her shoulder and she popped out her arm, reaching into the bag and pulling out whatever she got her hands on first, a small chocolate covered snack cake.  She felt her smile growing as Steve took it from her and opened it before putting it back in her hand.  

 

“There’s only one way to eat this, Steve,” Darcy warned him.  “You should probably look away.”

 

Steve arched an eyebrow at her before reaching for another of the chocolate cakes and unwrapping it.   He tapped his treat against hers and gave a soft, “Cheers.”

 

“Down the hatch,” Darcy nodded before they both smashed the chocolate cake into their mouths.  Steve managed to get it all in easily, but Darcy messily crammed the cake into her mouth, blushing when Steve brushed away at the chocolate crumbs on her lips.

 

They sat and ate through a lot of the bag of snacks as the movie played on.  Steve saw out of the corner of his eye, Vision enter again, dropping off bags of takeout and a few pizzas before phasing through the floor.  Darcy wasn’t quite ready for more food, and she had managed to wiggle her arm back into her blanket burrito as the movie played on.  

 

Steve thought to Natasha’s instructions, and knew there was only one thing left that he hadn’t done.  He took a deep, fortifying breath before moving her drink and some pillows to the floor and shimmying closer to her on the couch.  His arm went around her and brought her into a tight embrace.  Her head leaned against his shoulder as he brought his other arm to wrap around her, holding her close against him.

 

Her sniffles started again, but he could tell that these were different than before.  Calmer.  Less desperate.  More therapeutic than sad.  

 

The movie changed, Friday obviously had been prompted by Vision and a movie called  _ The Mighty Ducks _ began playing.  

 

“Thank you,” she mumbled against him.  

 

“No need to thank me,” Steve insisted, taking a deep inhale of her hair, which smelled like strawberries and made his face color a little.  “Let me be clear with you, I do not dislike you.  I think you’re amazing.  And whenever you need me, Darcy.  I’m here.  I promise.”

 

“Okay,” Darcy nodded.

 

He could feel her melting into him, her body going lax in sleep and he couldn’t help but smile.  Fifteen minutes later, his phone buzzed and he took it out, furrowing his brow at the picture message from Nat.  It was of he and Darcy, taken probably a minute ago with what was presumably Friday’s surveillance cameras.  

 

_ You seem to be handling things just fine.  Good job, Rogers _ .

 

Steve smirked at the message, knowing that Natasha had somehow engineered the rest of the team’s schedule to make sure that he had taken care of Darcy.  He couldn’t find it in him to be angry though, and he managed to send her a thumbs up emoticon before putting his phone down and cuddling Darcy close as she drifted off into sleep.  He knew that in a day or two, Darcy would be over this sadness, and back to being an energetic ball of sass and joy.

 

And he would be there.  To definitely take a try at convincing her that he very much liked her.

**Author's Note:**

> Natasha Romanoff's Instructions on the Proper Care of Sad Darcy  
> 1\. Obtain red blanket from her couch.  
> 2\. Wrap her up like a snug little burrito.  
> 3\. Put her someplace soft.  
> 4\. Play her favorite feel good movies, see back of paper for list.  
> 5\. Water her.  
> 6\. Feed her snacks (the less healthy, the better). Make sure you eat with her or the step won't work.  
> 7\. Cuddle the snug little burrito.  
> 8\. Repeat as necessary.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading! And this is a one shot for now. But who knows when inspiration may strike. I'm sure Natasha has a lot of lists for a lot of people.


End file.
